SECOND ANNUAL CHAZFEST COMES TO THE NINTH WARD

It's the party so nice we had to do it twice. That's right, you heard it here first and make no mistake the SECOND ANNUAL CHAZFEST will take place RAIN OR SHINE on THURSDAY, MAY 3 at THE TRUCK FARM located at 3020 St. Claude Ave in the fashionable Upper 9/LowBy area. The doors will be open at 11 and the bands will go from noon until 10pm. It's a must-see event you will find nowhere else! Chazfest is the only place you'll be able to see any of these great artists in a festival setting in the greater New Orleans area this spring.

And this year there's even MOREChazfest, as we've added a second stage.

We've also got more great food this time around. Returning from last year are Pete and Jenny from The Joint with New Orleans' premier BBQ. Mz Gianna will feature a veggie "green" gumbo, and Karen Brady and Georgia Rhody will be serving burritos and margaritas.

SEA SHANTY CD RELEASE SCHEDULED FOR SAT. APRIL 21

An evening of mayhem, rum and song has been scheduled for Saturday, April 21 at the Saturn Bar, located at 3067 St. Claude Ave in glamorous Bywater USA. Come and see, for their first public appearance, The Valparaiso Men's Chorus as they perform your seafaring favorites! Thrill to the robust and ribald maritime sounds of yore! The action begins at 10:30.

I suppose I must admit I've fallen down the rabbit hole. Things have been Strange and Paradoxical of late, due to a little mission I agreed to take care of for a friend. I'm not sure I have the time, space or even the inclination to go into it right now, but I offer it as a lame excuse for why there hasn't been a diary entry since last summer. This thing has been chewing up my days and gorging on my psyche. I noticed only yesterday that I had not a single gig booked for Mardi Gras; that the entire spring was a blank. Usually these things happen as a result of six weeks of acting like a nineteen-year-old. Not so this time. At any rate, after two days on the phone and several hours in front of the computer I think the ship is listing a little less. If you know me you know what the thing is that has become my albatross, my Vietnam. Perhaps I'll get into it later, but the thought of...

Back to New Orleans, Gently

IT was a Friday afternoon in late October, and the narrow lanes of the French Quarter were quiet. Fresh paint — pale green, robin’s egg blue, canary yellow — adorned the low, tidy Creole cottages, and the wrought-iron railings of town-house balconies shone blackly in the sunlight. The streets were free of litter, the air unpolluted by the musky odor of all-night parties. But as I wandered the beautiful Quarter, one question stuck in my mind: Where was everybody?

This Just In...

SEA SHANTY RECORD FINALLY MIXED AND GETTING CLOSER TO YOUR EARS STOP WILL KICK YOUR ASS EVERY WAY BUT SIDEWAYS STOP DEPP IN THE CROSSHAIRS STOP WE WILL TAKE HIM DOWN STOP

HAPPY TALK RECORD IN PRODUCTION STOP WILL BUM YOU OUT AND MAKE YOU ROCK STOP

08.29.2006

Today’s a fine bright day and my thermometer reads ninety-six degrees. The grass is running riot and needs cutting, but I’m going to blow it off for another day. The lawn guy* is off somewhere in the Northern Midwest and has left the task to me and our landlord. Yet the sun shines on him still, as well as my overheated car and the president downtown making speeches, allegedly admitting that mistakes were made. Good for him. Later he’ll come by the truck farm for a beer and he’s going to offer me some coke. But I’m going to just say “no”. “No, George,” I’ll say. “I’m just enjoying the luxury of this fine day and my overheated car. Now take that stuff inside and do it in the bathroom like normal folks do. I’m a public figure—a minor entertainment personality—and I’ve gotta watch what I do and say, because it always comes back to haunt me sooner or later. I don’t enjoy the same...

I was thinking about the president a lot about a month ago. You see, I was clearing a lot of brush from out the back of our house in preparation for Chazfest, and since that’s what W. does for kicks out at his ranch in Crawford TX, I felt that I was perhaps getting on a parallel vibe with The Decider. And what’s more, I had Spinal Tap’s “Heavy Duty Rock and Roll” going through my head almost all day every day. Probably because the tool I was using is a Milwaukee brand Heavy Duty Orbital Super Sawzall (there is no substitute), with the words HEAVY DUTY emblazoned across the chassis and the carrying case. So I was in a good frame of mind most of the time as I ripped through dead trees like a laser with this vicious piece of hardware, while imagining my old pal The Decider pedaling by on his mountain bike. “Heavy! HEAVY! Duty! DUTY!!! Heavy Duty a-ROCK AND ROLL!!!” I...

All That Chaz

Review of Chaz Fest

One of the best aspects about the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is the festival that happens outside the Fair Grounds' fences.

04.14.2006

And balls to this internet thing.

Yes. That sounds good. . It has been a while since we’ve cranked up this website, but now’s the time, children. Now’s the time, indeed. And since the interweb is working, and I feel something resembling gin-lust, it’s probably time to get something down, for whatever reason.

A good place to start might be that my wife (an incredible woman, mind you. Staunch is the word that comes to mind. She could bend roofing nails with her gaze while coaxing sunflowers out of poisoned soil. She could re-create the world from memory and bring dead dogs back to life. Don’t cross her) and I moved from the sylvan climes of Williamsburg Brooklyn back home to the land of our meeting New Orleans. The move was kind of sudden—we’d been talking about it pre-k, but decided after we’d secured a Bunyonesque space in the nine that it was put up or shut up time. Compared to...

FIRST ANNUAL CHAZFEST COMES TO THE NINTH WARD

In response to overwhelming demand to hear some of New Orleans finest musical talent in a festival setting, the first ever Chazfest will be held on Thursday, May 4 at The Truck Farm-- 3020 St. Claude Avenue in Americas own Ninth Ward. The fun begins at 12 noon and carries on all day until 10:00. Along with a veritable whos who of bands that wont be playing at the other music festival taking place in New Orleans at the beginning of May (as well as a couple that ARE!) there will be food served up hot and wet by The Joint, as well as Chef Yvette Yates (of Rio Mar). Weve even got port-o-lets.

Introducing the First Annual - Chaz Festival

Between that 'other festival's' two weekends - Thursday 4-May-06 at "The Truck Farm" Come on out and get yer Chaz On! All you need to know right - here

01.03.2006

Adios, Micky's Blue Room

Howdy all...Micky's Blue Room is closing its doors on the 8th so come join us for one last Tuesday night tonight. I'll be with Greg Schatz and Rob Wagner, as well as special guest Deb Montgomery. I'll be joining Deb on her set. As always, 171 ave C. Starts around 9.

De Mortuis Nil Nisi Bonum,

Alex McMurray

12.31.2005

Howdy folks. 007 is doing some dates in Houston, Lafayette and New Orleans in early January. Check the "shows" section for details. Bring your Shake.

12.31.2005

It was the Chinese, I think, who came up with the proverb "may you live in interesting times". Well, maybe it wasn’t a proverb at all, but a curse. Something one might say to a rival or an adversary. Nonetheless, it was this phrase that stuck in my mind when Kourtney and I took our first look at post-Katrina New Orleans a few weeks ago. A very interesting place. You should go take a look. Another thing that got into my head was those Hindu guys and their notion that the Gods created us for their own amusement. I’m sure I’m mistaken, but somewhere down the line I heard that Krishna or Vishnu or whoever set up this proscenium one day and peopled it with people, wound them up and let it rip and now they’ve got a never ending Laverne and Shirley going on while they loll around the universe and eat papaya salad or whatever it is they eat up there. Now that I think about it, I find that...